Can anyone here imagine what would have been said by Demoncrats and the lamestream press if Bush had authorized the shooting down of an airliner over a sparsely inhabited portion of Western Pennsylvania? For that matter, suppose Bush had authorized all four airliners to be shot down based on some super-secret, not-yet-released CIA report. Would the press be praising Bush? Or would they be blasting him for killing Americans without proof of a crime?
Remember that Kerry's plan to combat terrorism is to enlarge the budgets of the "first responders" so they can put out the fires of the next attack faster, recover the bodies quicker and track down the criminal masterminds in short order. Bush's plan is to kill them first. Which do you agree with?
Yes, I can well imagine. They would have argued that we didn't KNOW that plane was going to be used as a missile just because the others had been and the entire focus and mantra would be "we shot down our own people". They would have said such a reaction was too hasty.
MSNBC is showing the hearing. The commission fancies themselves prosecutors of the administration. Right this minute Jamie Gorelick is grilling General Myers. She says she is "just asking" questions, but they are framed in an accusatory manner. They are discussing this very issue.
MSNBC leaves their coverage. Just as well, I have better things than to watch that travesty.
Bush did, in fact, give the shoot down order. It was propogated to the the NORAD commanders from Cheyenne mountain NORAD command at 10:08AM. Cheney initially thought that the flight that went down in Penn. was shot down...although as we know now it was not.